Monthly Archives: September 2011

How To Get Others To Promote You NOW

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By Jimmy D. Brown of Traffic F.U.E.L.

See if you can spot the similarity.

What do the following three statements have in common?

1. I can’t do it right now, but maybe later.
2. I’ve already got my mailings scheduled.
3. Let me get back to you.

Got the similarity spotted?

These are all typical responses that most people get when asking partners and affiliates to promote their offers.

Chances are you’ve gotten answers much like these, right?

Don’t despair … there are ways around the barriers of reluctance and passiveness.

Let me share some simple ideas for getting affiliates to take action on your promotions quickly. I use the acronym “N.O.W.” to describe three ways to get others to promote you now…

N – News

In journalism, no one wants to be “scooped” when it comes to newsworthy items. Sharing some big story that another network or publication broke days ago is a big “no-no”. You always want to be first when it comes to getting the word out.

That same philosophy applies to what I’ve labeled “The Principle of First”. The idea is simple: being “first to market” aids in responses. Those who let their contacts know about your news promptly will generate the greatest results. If they wait, someone else will break the news.

So, to apply this principle, you simply need to create some newsworthy buzz that your affiliates and partners can’t pass up on sharing with their network of influence.

**CASE STUDY**

Several months ago I decided that I was going to remove the archives from one of my membership sites. This announcement served as a strong motivator to get my affiliates to promote my site promptly before someone else did. The result was almost 500 new members paying monthly fees!

If you make dramatic changes to your offer, or create some other kind of “story” or “news” that warrants discussion promptly, you’ll find you can get many fence-setters active in promoting you.

O – Occasions

Another great way to motivate affiliates to get active is to use “occasions” that have a real deadline involved.

Some examples include –

* Product launches
* Firesales
* Live events (teleseminars, workshops, etc.)
* Contests
* Special offers
* Limited quantities

This is what might be referred to as “The Principle Of Force”. That is, you MUST promote the offer now or miss out simply because the offer will no longer be valid. You “force” participation.

For example: If you have a 3-day “firesale” set for a specific date, then anyone interested in earning commissions for referring customers to the “firesale” would be “forced” to promote it during your pre-determined timeframe or they’d miss out because the event will end.

My recommendation is that you schedule some kind of “occasion” every quarter. That should give you four significant spikes in your revenue each year, which can be a tremendous boost to your bottom line.

W – Wants

What do your partners and affiliates want? Seriously, stop and think about that for a moment. In fact, go one step further than that and ASK them a simple question…“What would it take for you to promote this offer this week?”

Make it happen.

I want you to remember the intangibles here: the sales of your initial offer aren’t really all that important. (Don’t freak out, hear what I have to say 🙂 It’s building a lead list, an affiliate list and a customer list along with ADDITIONAL offers over time that makes the real money.

Consider this –

Option A:

Miss Ima Guru ignores your request to promote your offer as it currently stands.

Option B:

Miss Ima Guru accepts your modified offer which includes giving her 100% of the revenue she generates. You make nothing off her promotion…but in the process of her promotion she adds 500 new subscribers to your list, 75 new affiliates and 60 new customers.

Which would you rather have?

Whatever it takes to get people to promote your offer now, make it happen.

*** NOTE ***

Now, let me make a simple suggestion here: The deal you make should be directly proportional to the potential results the partner represents.

Some affiliates and partners bring more to the table and should be offered more in order to get them to participate.

That being said, you can get virtually any affiliate to promote you now if you make it worth their while. So, ask them, “what will it take?”

This is what I call “The Principle Of Fear”. That is, a feeling of “This is such a compelling offer, I can’t afford to miss out on this deal.”

All of this adds up to more involvement and participation among your affiliates and partners…

N – News +
O – Occasions +
W – Wants =
——————-
Other people promoting you NOW!

—————–
Jimmy D. Brown is the publisher of Traffic Jam newsletter and the owner of Traffic F.U.E.L. membership site.  Drop by today to learn how to get completely free traffic to any website.  Get your free traffic newsletter at http://lonewolfmuskoka.ca/recommends/JimmyDBrownFUEL

Integrity Marketing – The Internet Marketing Code of Ethics

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Do we need an Internet Marketing Code of Ethics?

You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a goodbye
— Graham Nash

There are a lot of dishonest people in the world who have no qualms about taking your hard earned money in any way that they can. And the internet has created more opportunities for them to flourish and spread their evil.

You don’t want to be like them. At least I hope you don’t. I know that there are times when you’re tempted to say “What the …” and jump to the dark side, but you resist.

But what about those times where we slowly drift over the line? I’m sure that you’ve heard the experiment with the frogs who didn’t jump out of the boiling water because it slowly rose to a boil while they were in it. We run that risk as marketers when we slip into the grey areas.

We need a way to keep ourselves in line — to hold ourselves and one another accountable. We need a code.

The Internet Marketing Code of Ethics

Many people are asking if we need a code of ethics. Brendan Wenzel of Launch Karma asks Should Internet Marketing Have a Code of Ethics?

Gary Simpson has a free 55 page report on How Not To Be An Internet Marketing Zombie over at Internet Marketing Talk (remind me never to piss Gary off — I think he could take me 8=) It’s a passionate look at unethical behaviour.

I’ve even written about some of the unscrupulous methods of marketing I’ve seen.

I stumbled upon The Internet Marketer’s Code of Ethics at Dennis Pippen’s site. I’m not sure if Dennis originated this proposed framework (I think it may actually originate from Ken Harthun), but I think it is a good guideline for anyone who wants to be a Marketer of Integrity.

Sadly, a search for “internet marketers code of ethics” didn’t bring up as many results in Google as I had hoped. However, Simon Dodd, Trish Mullen and Ken Harthun have all promoted this same code so there is growing awareness. [Ken’s comments in the Warrior Forum lead me to believe that he originated the code but I was unable to get to his site to verify it.]

I also found the American Marketing Association has a code of ethics. As internet marketing is a subset of marketing in general this might be a good place to start.

At some point it would be nice to see a foundation of sorts that is responsible for this code of ethics. It will need some work, but as people become more educated about online purchasing it will help you stand out amongst the crowd.

IMTrustWorthy

One promising site is IMTrustWorthy [note that this is an affiliate link]. This site allows members to post an IMTrustWorthy badge on their site (see mine in the sidebar). The badge links back to their profile which other members of the site can rate and provide feedback on.

This allows us to judge each other based on a set of best practices (they are somewhat similar to the code). You can also network with other marketers to find partners for JV events, etc.

The site is currently in beta but I hope that it will grow. But it will need us all to work together to make it grow. If you haven’t signed up for it yet then get on over there and check it out. Now!

It’s Up To You

You are a Marketer of Integrity, so what do you think? Is this code something that is worth pursuing? Many feel that it is a waste of time. Others feel that it is an empty promise — either you are ethical or you’re not.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments or write a post about it and link back here. The more we fight to stand up for integrity, the better this industry will be.

I’ve Discovered the Problem With Internet Marketing — It’s Me!

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I’ve had an epiphany.  A breakthrough realization.  I now know what is the problem with internet marketing and list building.  It’s me!  That’s right, me.

“Well,” I hear you ask “how do you know this?”

Great question.  I know this because an internet marketer told me so.

Let’s get into the story.  I signed up for a free membership site which put me onto a mailing list.  So far I’m sure that your familiar with how this works.  The membership site had a collection of free downloads — eBooks, software, etc.  It was basically a collection of PLR and MRR products.  No problem, I checked a few out and didn’t see much that was of interest to me.

Then the emails came.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Typical of the current crop of ad swap list builders.  Nothing that I couldn’t handle.  This list builder was no worse (or better) than most of the lists I’ve signed up for.  Didn’t really stand out in terms of what he/she was offering.

After about 2 weeks I got an email that had 4 of my unsubscribe triggers in it.  Since I hadn’t seen anything outstanding from this person I decided that it was time to unsubscribe.  Then the little feedback dialog box came up.  So I pointed out the reasons why I was unsubscribing.  Usually this is the end of the story (although I’ve had a couple polite “Thank you for the feedback” type emails).  This time was different.

First, we’ll start with my feedback:

Comments:
Your subject line in the last email triggered 2 things that I hate —  using Re: and mentioning payments.
Also, you don’t mention anything about the product except that it is “normally $47”.
Finally, you’ve used blank lines to push your unsubscribe info further down the page — annoying and in violation of AWeber terms of use.

Not a lot of fluff in there, just the facts.  Here’s what I got back.

Waaaa Waaaaa

You’re like one of these people that look to find stuff to complain about…
You’re also probably one of these guys that purchase something and then find a reason to demand a refund.
I mean, it’s not like you were paying for membership anyways…

Scram off and don’t come back around… I for sure don’t need you or your complaints and attitude… In other words,
GET LOST !!!

Oops.  I guess I came across too harsh somehow.  This poor fellow must be having a bad day and has decided to take it out on me.

Hi XXXXXXXXXX

I’m sorry that my constructive criticisms offended you.  I figured that rather than just unsubscribe I’d let you know why I did.  Sorry that you really didn’t want to hear it.  You might want to turn that feature off in the autoresponder.  It will save both you and your unsubscribers the time.

And I was paying with my time which you obviously don’t care about.  And I could have become a paying customer at some point, but now I never will.

I have never purchased anything and looked for a reason to refund it.  I also don’t look for stuff to complain about, but I do find lots of it as there are lots of people out there like you.  I always hope for the best when I subscribe to a list.  And I try to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Best of luck in the future.  I hope you don’t tell too many people to GET LOST!! though.  It’s pretty hard to sell things when you do that.

Ciao
Bill

Finally, the epiphany email:

You wasn’t going to order anything through us anyways…

Remember, you unsubscribed…

I don’t even want customers like yourself…

You aren’t interested in our services and products…
You are only interested in nosing around different marketers to find out what they are doing, marketing etc..
I have ways to know what others are up to, but don’t pay that much attention until someone like you finds stuff to bitch at.
I really need to eliminate more just like you, but I’m laid back – cool until someone like yourself comes along.
I can take constructive criticism, but yours wasn’t in that nature… It was more like you wanted to take a piss on something…

It’s people like you that are part of the problem in this niche

NOT part of the answer….

So, now we know.  I’m the problem.  If only I didn’t expect marketers to be honest and have respect for my time when they email something.  If only I didn’t expect people to provide me with something of value rather than endless ads.  If only I didn’t expect to build a relationship of trust and respect with someone before I buy their products.

So, to all you struggling internet marketers out there, I’m sorry that I’m part of the problem.

NOTE: This post is a Ramblings Classics. It was originally published at Ramblings on October 14, 2010.

Further Down the Rabbit Hole …

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You Won't Like Me When I'm AngryYesterday I wrote about deception in marketing.  Today I want to follow up on the example that I talked about.

I reloaded the landing page with the scarcity tactics again.  The date (as I expected) was today’s date.  The number of copies available was still 17.  I know that at least 1 copy was downloaded by me.

So there we have it — 2 blatant lies on the landing page.

I decided to follow the exit splash pages and see where it lead.  Rather interesting.  There were 4 exit splashes in all.

The first was another opt-in page for a different product.

Exiting from that brought me to a sales page for another product (discounted from $77 to $4.95 until Midnight December 8, 2010).

Exit again, another sales page.  This time for the same product but a free 10 day trial (just $4.95 processing fee).  Uh, okay — NOT!

Exit and another exit splash page.  This one is the creme-de-la-creme of exit splashes!  I’m at the ClickBank page to enter my order information from the last sales page!

Can you imagine this at a shoe store?

“I don’t really like any of the shoes that you’ve shown me.  I’m going to leave now.”

“That’s okay sir, but would you like to step over to the cash register on your way out?  We can run your credit card and put these shoes in a bag for you.”

I don’t know whether I should feel angry at this guy or sorry for him.  At least I can imagine that most people would never follow the trail all the way to the end like I did.  I normally wouldn’t.  In fact, I rarely follow exit splashes at all.

I’m hoping that once his emails start coming that they will show a little more integrity.

NOTE: This post is a Ramblings Classics. It was originally published at Ramblings on December 12, 2010.

Why Do Marketers Use Deception?

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DeceptionThe Backlash is Coming

More and more internet marketers are using deceptive sales techniques to use and abuse their lists.

  • They deceive you with the ad swaps and solo ads that they get others to send.
  • They deceive you on the landing pages that you sign up on.
  • They deceive you in the products that they give away.
  • They deceive you in the emails that they send once you’re on their list.

And they expect you to buy from them?

There is a growing concern about this type of marketing amongst those who are attempting to build quality content and real valuable relationships with clients and potential clients.  Many of the people who use these techniques don’t know any better — it’s what they’ve been taught.  But most of them are just looking to squeeze as much juice out of all y’all as they can.

Here is a list of some of the rants that you can find out there:

Let’s Look at an Example

The Ad Swap/Solo Ad

Recently I got an email advertisement that had the subject “I don’t approve of stealing, but this…”  Not a great start if you ask me.  What am I supposed to think?  Should I trust someone who has a reservation about stealing — except for this one thing?

The body of the email basically says that I would probably agree that it is okay for someone to steal something from a person who trusts them <strong>if it is for me</strong>!  Now I’m a criminal.  As long as I benefit then it is okay for someone to betray a trust.

The Landing Page

Well, let’s follow this down the rabbit hole.  Let’s see the landing page I’m being sent to.  Here is a simple page that tells me pretty much nothing about this free gift that I’ll get except that it is used by thousands to get traffic and profits.  An eCover and an opt-in box.  No mention of stealing anything.  Hmm.

There is a couple of limitations though.  This offer is only available on December 7, 2010.  And there are only 17 copies left out of 200 available.  Guess what, I don’t believe either of these statements.

Can I prove that they’re lying?

The Date

Well, it turns out that I can prove at least one of the statements wrong.  Ctrl-Shft-U and up pops the source code of the page.   A quick scan shows me that the date restriction is created using JavaScript to generate the date.  If I was there yesterday then I would have seen “December 6, 2010”.  If I come back tomorrow it will tell me “December 8, 2010”.

Now, it is possible that they put this page up this morning and will take it down at midnight.  But they wouldn’t need to have the JavaScript code to handle it — a hard coded date would have been much easier.  The real test would be to wait until midnight and then reload the page.  I just may do that in the morning and see what’s up.

The Copies Available

I’ll also see if the count drops from 17 after I’ve downloaded the free gift.  Well, after seeing the typical upsell OTO (why do these guys think I’m gonna buy from them before I’ve seen their sample wares?  That’s another discussion altogether) the refresh of the page still shows 17.

Well, I didn’t actually download the product yet, so let’s try that.  Downloading … 3 actual files as part of this product.  Typical Bonus products (although only a few) listed on the download page.

Refresh the landing page.  Still 17 available.  Statement #2 is looking more like a lie.

The Free Gift

Now to take a quick peek at the product.  There is a 25 page guide on traffic, a check list and a process map.  At a quick scan it actually looks like a pretty decent product.  I’m actually impressed with it.  It is well written and is not promoting dishonest traffic techniques.  In fact, it seems to be discouraging that which is refreshing.

It is obviously an introductory product and contains the links to the upsell product that this guy is offering, but I think he’s done a pretty decent job here.  It has some good information and tips for getting started but leaves enough that you’d likely want to buy the main product to get the rest of the details.

Still, no mention of stealing, so I have no clue what the original email was all about.

The New List

Well, I’m now on a new list.  I imagine it will take some time to see how this one shakes out.  The initial welcome email was simple and concise — link to the gift and encouraging word.  The tone is friendly without pretending to be best buddies.  No “hidden opt-out” or other ridiculous list tricks.

I’m actually looking forward to seeing some email from this guy to find out if he can follow up with the goods.  I hope he can.  The initial contact was a bit rocky and I hope that he changes that landing page.  But he did come through on some decent content in the end and I’m hoping to see some good stuff on his list.

Conclusions

Well, what can we conclude from this?

First of all, we need to look at first impressions.  I nearly didn’t click on the link in the initial email.  It set a bad first impression with the implication that I’d agree to be party to theft if it somehow benefited me. That will colour the feelings that I have towards this new list and it will be a hurdle for him to overcome.

The landing page with the false scarcity was also a problem.  Not everyone would be able to look at the source code of the page and see that it, but the fact is that it was a lie.  That doesn’t lead to trust.

So it seems that we have a decent product and, hopefully, a valuable list that I only got to because I wanted an example to write this post.  Otherwise I would have passed on it.

Second of all, my opinion of the promoter has been diminished.  The original list owner that sent out this ad swap/solo ad has been diminished in my eyes.  Whether he wrote the piece about stealing himself or just used ad copy from the new guy is hard to tell.  But having it in his list hurts his rep.  He needs to look at what he’s promoting and how he’s promoting it.  It will reflect on him and now he has to rebuild a level of trust.

So here are my two pieces of advice for you when you’re trying to build your list:

  • Don’t lie in any part of your sales funnel, from the ads you run through to your sales products.  It destroys trust.
  • Don’t promote anyone who does lie.  It will reflect badly on you.

Followup Posts:

Further Down the Rabbit Hole …

NOTE: This post is a Ramblings Classics. It was originally published at Ramblings on December 8, 2010.

I’ve had the vanbourghini image on my computer for a long time. I have seen it on other sites as well, but never with a credit. If you know who to credit for this image please let me know.

Backlinks — Getting Back to Basics

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Stronger TogetherBacklinks. We all need them to survive. But how do we go about getting them?

The Early Web

I remember when the web was young. Me and Suzi had so much fun …

I didn’t get into making sites way back then, but I did surf the web a lot. This was before Google. Before Yahoo. I mean, I remember when Alta Vista was the new kid on the block and I was using a browser called Mosaic (rhymes with archaic 8=)

The internet was called The Web for a reason. Articles written always had links to other articles that related to the given topic. Sometimes they were articles by the same author on the same site (internal links we call them now) but usually they were references to other sites. The links formed an intricate web pattern when they were graphed out.

The idea was that the web was to share information (and entertainment) and to provide easy access to related materials. Before the web an author could reference another writer, but the reader would have to find the book or periodical referenced somehow before being able to gather that extra info. Hyperlinks changed all of that.

Fast Forward to Now

But the web grew up. Commercial interests came in. Search engines grew. And links became a way to make money.

I just finished reading a post by Mark Thompson called Google Hates You. Mark talks about how Google and other search engines are doing a pretty poor job of sifting out the crappy web sites and allowing quality sites like yours (and mine 8=) to fall way down in the rankings. In fact, many White Hat websites are punished by Google while Black Hat sites manage to get top rankings.

Who is to Blame?

But is the fault entirely with Google and the Black Hats?

Perhaps we need to look inside for a minute. Perhaps we, as bloggers, can take some part of the blame.

I know that my backlink strategy (which I don’t work very hard) consists of posting comments (good ones, not spammy) on other related sites and forums as well as social media. I also dabble in article marketing and want to get some more guest posting done.

But as I read Mark’s article, I had to think, when was the last time that I referenced another blogger’s post in the body of my article? I mean, other than an affiliate link?

I’ve done this in the past, but not often enough. I think that we as writers should pursue at least 1 outbound link in at least 25% of our posts. Some articles could have dozens of links. Some might not need any.

But at a minimum we should strive to find at least one article out there that is relevant to what we’re writing about and link to it.

And we shouldn’t expect anything in return.

What Do Others Say?

It seems like I’m not alone in thinking this. Some of the A List bloggers have this on their minds as well. Brian Clark of Copyblogger wrote Why Linking to Other Blogs is Critical back in 2007. Pay close attention to what Brian wrote about linking to your competition.

And if you look through the list of trackbacks, you’ll find Linking Out Instead of Link Building to Rank in Google as a recent entry by Tad Chef at SEOptomise. I especially like one thing that he said: “Linking out is a strategy you have to embrace holistically.” Read the article to see what he means.

I found another great article by Dawud Miracle as a guest post on Lorelle on WordPress. Dawud wrote Why You Want to Link to Other Blogs where he explores more than just the page rank/traffic benefits.

Ben Yoskovitz has some excellent tips about finding interesting articles to link to as well as how to add them into your post. Blog Hack: Link to New Blogs and Get More Readers is definitely a resource you need to look at.

You’ll even find a couple articles here ProBlogger that talk about how to use outbound links. Kimberly Turner’s Monthly Trends + 10 Tips for a Flawless Linking Strategy touches on the subject. And Darren Rowse himself wrote about this back in 2009 in Outbound Links – An Endangered Species? [And Why I Still Link Up].

Explore the trackbacks and links found in those articles and you’ll find lots of people writing about how important linking out is to your blog.

So you can see that there are great benefits available to you when you implement this strategy. And not just SEO benefits.

Where do We Go Next?

I firmly believe that if we, as White Hat writers, get back to the basics of backlinks (i.e. letting our fellow writers create them for us as we create backlinks for them) then the search engines will take notice. They will see quality sites linking to other quality sites.

The links will be deep (i.e. to specific pages) and relevant. Because of this, we should see lower bounce rates and more time on page from people who follow those links. These make Google and the writer happy.

Here are some guidelines that I think we need to have in the blogosphere:

  1. When you write a post, look for 2 articles that you can link to that relate to your thesis. They don’t necessarily have to support you. They can be contrary opinions.
  2. If your post is inspired by someone else’s post, link to it (as I’ve done here).
  3. Don’t get all your links from the same source — spread it out. Spread it out wide. It doesn’t hurt to have a couple sources that you go to regularly, but don’t be exclusive.
  4. Don’t expect links back. That defeats the purpose. You may get links back, but if this works as it should then you probably won’t. You may see that writer link to something else you wrote down the road though as you probably caught their attention (and you hopefully have something worthwhile for them to link to).
  5. Don’t focus on the big blogs. If you find a relevant article on a smaller blog link to it.
  6. If you can’t find anything that you want to link to a given post then don’t force it. Aim for at least 1 link in at least 25% of your posts.

I’m sure that there are other factors that you can think of that I’ve missed. Feel free to share them in the comments. But feel even more free to write your own post on this topic and link back here 8=)

5 Reasons To Use Giveaway Events To Build Your List And 3 Not To

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Growing Your List is Tough

I’ve been trying out the world of Giveaway events lately to build some of my lists.  I’ve had some mixed success and I think it’s time to share a bit of what I’ve learned.  I’ll assume that you have a general idea of what a giveaway event is all about (if you don’t, contact me).

Five Reasons To Use Giveaway Events

1 – They’re Free!

You can join a giveaway event as a contributor for free at most events.  There are some events that require you get a minimum number of points before you can contribute — you will either need to buy points or get contributors to sign up with your referral.  But most allow you to have a gift to contribute just for signing up.  You can upgrade your membership if you like.  This will give you the option to add more gifts to the event and even add OTO’s on the various landing pages.  It also puts your gift higher up in the list when the members start pouring in.

But when your budget is tight, you can simply join at the free level and add your single gift.  You will need to promote the event, both to potential JV partners and to general members once the event opens.  If you don’t do this you’ll run the risk of having your gift removed from the list and you’ll get no sign ups.

2 – They’re Easy … ish

Once you get the hang of them, it is really easy to set your profile up.  There are 2 main scripts that are used to run these and you’ll begin to recognize which one is being used just by the sign up page.  The less common of the two will require you get points (from having referrals sign up) before you can add a gift.  So until you’ve got a list of others who are using giveaways you’ll learn to avoid those ones.

Profile:  You sign up with your email address and create a user name.  NOTE: This will put you on the email list of the event organizer(s).  Then you can update your profile with a few pieces of info.  I always put in a decent profile pic to help build my brand but you might want to use a logo or just leave the image blank.  Not all of the events use the image.

Promote for Contributors:  Get your referral link and start promoting.  You need to make sure that you are promoting to marketers at this point since your goal is to get other JV’s to sign up under you.

Gift: Before the event opens to the general members, you’ll need to add your gift.  An image, a short description and the links to your squeeze page are needed here.  Make your copy compelling and you might try to customize your squeeze page for the event.

Some events require a direct download page so that some upgraded members can get your gift without joining your list.  It seems unfair, but if your free gift is done properly you should have links back to your squeeze page or sales page.  And there usually aren’t that many members who take that option.

Promote for Members: Once the doors are open you’ll need to promote again.  This time, it is a general promotion for anyone who might be interested in the niche.  Once again you’ll get points for referred members and that will bring your gift higher in the list.

3 – You Can Make a Bit of Dough

There is money to be made in a giveaway event.  When someone that you refer joins and purchases an upgraded membership or one of the one time offers, you will receive an affiliate commission.  Some events increase the percentage for upgraded members.

This isn’t a big consideration since the primary focus (at least for me) is to build my lists, but it’s nice to know that you could make a few bucks at the same time.

4 – You’ll Meet Your Competition (and Potential Partners)

At a giveaway event, once the doors open you can go in to see what others have to offer in the event.  You’ll pick up valuable free information that you can use to build your business (although you’ll also end up on lots of email lists — you’ll have to prune them as time goes on).

But there are two things you can get in addition to the free gifts.  First, you can see what types of products are on the market (i.e. your competition).  Secondly, you can make contacts with other marketers who have complementary products.  JV partnerships and affiliate opportunities can be found if you watch for them.

5 – You’ll Build Your List

This is the ultimate benefit.  Provided you’ve got a reasonably compelling free gift and decent copy in your promotional blurb and squeeze page you will add subscribers to your list.  If you’ve managed to get the credits to keep your gift near the top of the list you’ll see more traffic than the end.

But either way, you’ll get some traffic.  And at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about.

Three Reasons Not To Use Giveaway Events

Like all marketing tactics, giveaways are not perfect.  They have some drawbacks that you need to watch out for.

1 – They’re Hard for Beginners

When you don’t have a list to begin with, it is pretty tough to promote an event.  Who do you tell?

I struggled with this and actually got downgraded at one event since I didn’t get anyone to join as a contributor.  Most of the other events let it slide but some are more strict than others.  I promoted the events to my small lists and also hit my Twitter followers (you can imagine how well that worked 8=).

I did manage to grow my lists though.  For this next round I’m planning to focus on building a list in the IM market so that I have a higher possibility of contributors when it’s time to promote.  My other lists are not really interested in getting traffic or building mailing lists.

I’m also looking at other ways to promote such as traffic exchanges and list exchanges.  These are interesting topics that I’ve been leery of up til now, but I’m learning how they work and giving them a try.

2 – They’re Not For All Niches

The most common events are in the fabled Make Money Online niche.  They’re full of SEO, Twitter/Facebook secrets, list building, PLR/MRR, etc.  These are great events if you are building your list in that niche.

But I struggled with building my personal development lists.  In the MMO niche there is some cross over but a large percentage of the crowd just doesn’t care about goal setting or simplifying your life.  It is tougher to find giveaway events in other niches, but it is worth it if you can find a good one.

3 – They Add a Lot of Freebie Seekers

You’ll get a lot of people who just sign up for the free gift.  They may hang on your list or they may unsubscribe right away.  Don’t get discouraged when that happens — it will happen.  But that is the nature of the internet.  Many people are only out to get what they can for free.  Every marketer has to face that.

But this does mean that your list may not be as responsive as you would like.  You may have heard that a list is worth $1/month/member or something along those lines.  Well, a list full of freebie seekers will be worth a lot less than a list of buyers.  So keep that in mind if you decide to use giveaway events.

The Bottom Line

As Hamlet might have asked, “To JV, or not to JV?  That is the question.”

The answer is not cut and dried.  If you don’t have a way to get other marketers to the event and promote it then you run the risk of putting a bit of effort out and having your gift cut from the event.  If your niche isn’t a good match for the event then you’ll get very little return for your effort.

But when you get the right event you’ll see an influx to your list.  I haven’t seen the kind of numbers that they promotional materials promise at any of the events, but I do see enough new subscribers to make it worth while for me.

My plan is to join 1 or 2 events at a time and experiment with different types of offers, copy and promotional techniques.

If you would like to try this as well, you can see what events I’m joining and promoting on the Giveaway Events page.  If one of them interests you then join up and I’ll see you there!

You can also subscribe to the newsletter.  In addition to keeping you up to date with Giveaway Events and other opportunities, it’ll have tips, news and free stuff periodically.

NOTE: This post is the first of the Ramblings Classics. It was originally published at Ramblings on April 15, 2011.

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